Friday, September 23, 2011

I'm gonna go to the hospital in a few hours and be sedated. I do not want to be sedated.

The last time a doctor recommended a procedure for which sedation was required, I cancelled at the last minute. Actually, at that time I didn't know sedation was required. As soon as I heard it was, that's when I cancelled. As it turned out the reasons for the procedure turned out to be spurious (trust me, you don't want any further explanation than that). So I was fine. This time I feel like it may be necessary for them to go have a look at what they want to have a look at. Although I'm pretty certain it'll turn out to be nothing very serious.

The timing for this could hardly be worse. I'm doing this stuff on Friday and leaving for nearly two months in Europe on Sunday. People ask me how I prepare for these trips. The answer is "very badly."

I don't earn enough to pay for an assistant. So I have to set everything up myself. Luckily some very kind people over on the continent are booking me trains and planes and stuff. But I still have to coordinate it all. And I am very bad at that kind of thing. I'm not the kind of guy who really knows much about how to plan ahead.

Which is one of those weird questions I sometimes get. "If zen is all about being in the moment, are you allowed to plan ahead?" Yes, you are allowed to plan ahead. You plan ahead in the moment. You plan for two months in Europe now. Or at least you should. But if you're me, you barely do.

Plus a this week Zero Defex started recording what will eventually be its second album. I laid down some sitar on Wednesday. I be that's the first time a sitar was used by a hardcore band! The rest of the band will finish the tracks off while I'm away.

So I gotta go get sedated and still manage to pull together all the last minute stuff. Which is why this blog entry is short and messy.

I'm not a fan of drugs, as I think everybody who reads this knows. That includes even drugs that are "good for you," like the sedatives they give you in the hospital. I really don't want them. But I've heard what the procedure I'm going for is like without sedation and opted to get knocked out. Well, apparently not fully knocked out. They call the thing they're doing to me "twilight." I guess that means you're mostly knocked out. Knowing me, it'll put me under. Since I so seldom partake of drugs, whenever I do they knock me for a loop.

Anyhow, I figure if I write about the procedure maybe I can claim the whole thing as a tax write-off. Plus it may have some zen appeal. It is an altered state of consciousness after all. Not that zen is about altered states. But people who read about zen seem to like to read about altered states.

I don't earn enough to pay for an assistant. So I have to set everything up myself. Luckily some very kind people over on the continent are booking me trains and planes and stuff. But I still have to coordinate it all. And I am very bad at that kind of thing. I'm not the kind of guy who really knows much about how to plan ahead.

A good travel agent can do this, albeit usually not as good as those that can do it in-country, at least regarding China.

I know what you mean...I cherished my consciousness and my brain's virginity for the longest!But having been put under once, made being put under again easier.These anesthetics are powerful and there are a lot of different ones and combinations out there.Make sure you note down what you were given and any side effects after. It will help a future anesthesiologist choose best for you next time 'round.Believe me, there is always a next time!

Anesthesia is a kindness and I am glad you are letting some be extended to you.

Rev. Susan sez:"In recent times, there has been a wholesome effort to extend Zen teaching and the many benefits of zazen to more and more people. And, in order to make zazen increasingly palatable, and possible for people, this ancient radical practice is sometimes clothed in blue jeans and Nikes -- and quietly introduced into the medical and mental health systems as "stress reduction."

I wanted to ask you about this practice I invented. Brad, I've developed my own sort of pseudo-Zen lineage/ teaching style. The lineage is called Psychedelic Zen.

I've been practicing Psychedelic Zen for about a year now and want to teach it to other people and help them. It basically involves reclining back in a bean bag chair in the dark with some VERY trippy music playing. You also light a bunch of nifty candles and incense and you just lie there and you enter a very deep state of relaxation.

There's a little something you... "take" beforehand but I won't get into that. I'll just tell you that it's most likely a lot more potent than this silly "Bliss" nonsense.

Anyways Brad, what is your thoughts on Psychedelic Zen and do you think I should wait to recieve dharma transition before I start teaching it? Thanks

I just had a hernia op. was knocked out, it was fine, did not even realize when I woke up that the op.was over.! was fully recovered in a couple of hours, I think better then being semi sedated , when you are conscious and in a drugged state, being knocked out is really just a deep sleep.

Sounds like Brad is going to get his ass probed.He is soo uptight about these things.

Such a prude, just shows how hard it is to get past our puritanical culture.I would have thought his time in Japan would have cured him of that.Imagine, a Zen monk who is shy to talk about his own anal probing!

Spending $2000 to go to Europe totell people that there is nothingspecial about arriving in theblessed state, or that the Mind and Body fall off when the ANS isbalanced, seems kind of crazy. Butwhat do I know?

I recently dislocated my shoulder (so unbelievably painful) and they put me out to re-locate it. The anesthesiologist 'sold' it to me by telling me "it's the same drug that killed Michael Jackson. But don't worry, there will be two doctors in the room with you."

He and I had a long talk about maybe not selling it that way to other people.

Good luck at the doctor! I'm hoping to catch one of the stops on your book tour. I'm living in London, but my school schedule won't let me see you in the UK, so I'm hoping to make it to one of your talks in Belgium. I would love to dedicate a post on my blog to something to do with your book tour, if that is at all possible please let me know.

Michael Jackson wasn't fucking with his brain for fun. The only way he could go to sleep was toinduce the short term coma fromPropoful - a funny way to spendyour life, coma to coma, illusionto illusion, reincarnation toreincarnation.

One of my all-time favorite songs. And it sounds like not mentioning what the procedure is led everyone to think it's not nasal or dental surgery (and I'm lmao here)

Cool sitar--I knew a sort of hardcore band in the 80s who used one though they're now into 60s stuff.

Did you consider a railpass? AAA auto club issues them. Gives a lot of freedom to come and go, as long as trains aren't on strike (in which case you hop on anyway, as long as they're running, at least in France and hope you don't get kicked off in the middle of the night :)

And planning is good, a good skill to develop. Working on it myelf :)

Good luck with everything. Sedation isn't fun--kinda scary to have people doing all sorts of stuff to you and you don't know what's going on. For me it's a giant leap of faith and trust. Of course, my first time was due to a bad accident so guess I got used to it. Helps to have a friend there before and after and to manage things.

I've been doing zazen for about 3 years daily (even more than 3 years but it wasn't always on a consistent, daily basis) and i've been to this one sangha about half a dozen times to this Sunday public service they offer. They're always using words like "love", "compassion", "enightlenment", "cultivate a heart of enlightenment", and talking about giving donations generously to the temple to help "cultivate generosity".

That video is visually stimulating. Try watching what everyone is doing. Plus, there is nothing or nobody more new york than The Ramones. Except maybe Spider-Man. (and not his lawyer, Bernie Spiderman)